While sports fans in the subcontinent prepare for the India-Pakistan blockbuster in the Asia Cup in cricket, India’s Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem produced a thriller of a contest in the early hours of Monday in Budapest, leaving fans on the edge of their seats, in the men’s javelin final at World Athletics Championships, which eventually ended with both players scripting history.
In the nail-biter, Neeraj became India’s first-ever gold medallist at the World Championships, while Nadeem, who finished second, became Pakistan’s first medallist in the competition’s history.
Gold for India by Neeraj Chopra:
After a foul attempt to start the summit clash, Neeraj rocketed to the gold medal place with his greatest throw of 88.17 m in his second attempt.
The reigning Commonwealth Games champion, Nadeem, overcame a poor start to earn second place with a season-best throw of 87.82 m in his third attempt.
The two remained at the top of the standings until the finish, with Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic claiming bronze with the highest throw of 86.67 m.
A great sportsmanship act by Neeraj and Nadeem:
After their historic gold medal victory, Neeraj and Nadeem hugged. Later, as the Indian and Jakub smiled for the cameras with their respective flags, Nadeem was gone from the frame.
The silver medalist was left with the Pakistan flag. Still, Neeraj, in a million-dollar move, invited him for photographs as the duo stood together with the Indian flag behind them.
It was the first time India had three competitors in the final, with Kishore Jena (best of 84.77 m) finishing fifth and DP Manu (best of 84.14 m) finishing sixth.
India now has medals of all colours, and Neeraj has two. He won a silver medal at the World Championships last year.
Before his two medals, India’s last medallist was Anju Bobby George, who won a bronze medal in the women’s long jump at the 2003 World Championships.
Second Indian after the famous shooter Abhinav Bindra:
With the victory, Neeraj became an Olympic champion as well as the reigning World Championships gold medalist, making him only the second Indian – after famous shooter Abhinav Bindra – to hold the Olympics and World Championships titles at the same time.
Bindra won the World Championships when he was 23 and the Olympics when he was 25. He is also only the third javelin thrower in history to have won the Olympics and the World Championships simultaneously, following the legendary Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic and Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway.
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